Method and system for performing charging processing on network slice customer, and related device

Abstract

A method for performing charging processing on a network slice customer includes: receiving a first charging request message including session information from a session management device, where the session information includes an attribute of a PDU session of a user equipment on a network slice instance; determining that charging processing is to be performed on a target network slice customer for the PDU session; and sending a second charging request message including an identifier of the target network slice customer and the session information to a network slice customer charging device, so that the network slice customer charging device performs charging processing on the target network slice customer for the PDU session. When the second charging request message further includes service unit information, the charging processing includes storing service unit usage information or granting a service unit quota.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A system for performing charging processing on a network slice customer, comprising: a session management device, a network slice charging gateway, and a network slice customer charging device, wherein
 the session management device is configured to:
 send a first charging request message to the network slice charging gateway, wherein the first charging request message comprises session information, and the session information comprises an attribute of a protocol data unit (PDU) session of a user equipment on a network slice instance; 
 
 the network slice charging gateway is configured to:
 receive the first charging request message from the session management device; 
 determine, based on the first charging request message, that charging processing is to be performed on a target network slice customer for the PDU session, wherein the determining that charging process is to be performed on the target network slice customer comprises determining an identifier of the target network slice customer based on the first charging request message; and 
 send a second charging request message to the network slice customer charging device, wherein the second charging request message comprises the identifier of the target network slice customer and the session information; and 
 
 the network slice customer charging device is configured to:
 receive the second charging request message from the network slice charging gateway; and 
 perform charging processing on the target network slice customer for the PDU session based on the second charging request message. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the first charging request message and the second charging request message further comprise service unit information, and the service unit information comprises information used by the session management device to request a service unit for the PDU session or information used by the session management device to report a quantity of used service units in the PDU session. 
     
     
       3. The system according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the network slice customer charging device is further configured to send a charging processing result to the network slice charging gateway; the network slice charging gateway is further configured to receive the charging processing result from the network slice customer charging device, and send the charging processing result to the session management device; and 
 the session management device is further configured to receive the charging processing result from the network slice charging gateway, and control the PDU session based on the charging processing result. 
 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the second charging request message further comprises service unit information, and the service unit information comprises information to request a service unit for the PDU session or to report a quantity of used service units in the PDU session. 
     
     
       5. A method for performing charging processing on a network slice customer, used in a network slice charging gateway, and comprising:
 receiving a first charging request message from a session management device, wherein the first charging request message comprises session information, and the session information comprises an attribute of a protocol data unit (PDU) session of a user equipment on a network slice instance; 
 determining, based on the first charging request message, that charging processing is to be performed on a target network slice customer for the PDU session, wherein the determining that charging process is to be performed on the target network slice customer comprises determining an identifier of the target network slice customer based on the first charging request message; and 
 sending a second charging request message to a network slice customer charging device, wherein the second charging request message comprises the identifier of the target network slice customer and the session information. 
 
     
     
       6. The method according to  claim 5 , wherein before the sending the second charging request message to the network slice customer charging device, the method further comprises:
 determining an address of the network slice customer charging device. 
 
     
     
       7. The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the session information comprises a user identifier, and the determining the identifier of the target network slice customer based on the first charging request message comprises:
 determining the identifier of the target network slice customer based on the user identifier. 
 
     
     
       8. The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the session information comprises a user identifier and an identifier of the network slice instance, and the determining the identifier of the target network slice customer based on the first charging request message comprises:
 determining the identifier of the target network slice customer based at least on the user identifier and the identifier of the network slice instance. 
 
     
     
       9. The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the session information comprises a user identifier, an identifier of the network slice instance, and a creation time of the PDU session, and the determining the identifier of the target network slice customer based on the first charging request message comprises:
 determining the identifier of the target network slice customer based on the user identifier, the identifier of the network slice instance, and the creation time of the PDU session. 
 
     
     
       10. The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the session information comprises a user identifier, an identifier of the network slice instance, and a service identifier, and the determining the identifier of the target network slice customer based on the first charging request message comprises:
 determining the identifier of the target network slice customer based on the user identifier, the identifier of the network slice instance, and the service identifier. 
 
     
     
       11. The method according to  claim 5 , wherein
 the first charging request message and the second charging request message further comprise service unit information, and the service unit information comprises information to request a service unit for the PDU session or to report a quantity of used service units in the PDU session. 
 
     
     
       12. The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the service unit information comprises a requested service unit quota and a used service unit quota, and the method further comprises:
 receiving, from the network slice customer charging device, a service unit quota granted by the network slice customer charging device in response to the second charging request message, and sending the service unit quota to the session management device. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the second charging request message further comprises service unit information, and the service unit information comprises information to request a service unit for the PDU session or to report a quantity of used service units in the PDU session. 
     
     
       14. A method for performing charging processing on a network slice customer, used in a network slice customer charging device, and comprising:
 receiving a second charging request message from a network slice charging gateway, wherein the second charging request message comprises an identifier of a target network slice customer, session information, and service unit information, wherein the session information comprises an attribute of a protocol data unit (PDU) session of a user equipment on a network slice instance, and wherein the service unit information comprises information to request a service unit for the PDU session or to report a quantity of used service units in the PDU session; and 
 performing charging processing on the target network slice customer for the PDU session based on the second charging request message including the session information and the service unit information. 
 
     
     
       15. The method according to  claim 14 , wherein the service unit information comprises a used service unit quota, and the used service unit quota is a quantity of used service units in the PDU session; and the performing charging processing on the target network slice customer for the PDU session based on the session information and the service unit information comprises:
 storing the identifier of the target network slice customer, the session information, and the used service unit quota in a charging data record of the target network slice customer. 
 
     
     
       16. The method according to  claim 14 , wherein the service unit information comprises a requested service unit quota and a used service unit quota, and the performing charging processing on the target network slice customer for the PDU session based on the session information and the service unit information comprises:
 deducting the used service unit quota from an available service unit quantity of the target network slice customer, to obtain a remaining available service unit quantity of the target network slice customer; 
 determining a granted service unit quota based on the requested service unit quota and the remaining available service unit quantity of the target network slice customer; and 
 sending the granted service unit quota to the network slice charging gateway. 
 
     
     
       17. The method according to  claim 14 , wherein the session information comprises an initial flag, and the initial flag is used to indicate that the PDU session is a newly created PDU session or a PDU session for which no charging processing has been performed; and the performing charging processing on the target network slice customer for the PDU session based on the second charging request message comprises:
 calculating an updated PDU session quantity of the target network slice customer based on the identifier of the target network slice customer and the initial flag. 
 
     
     
       18. The method according to  claim 14 , wherein the session information comprises a start time of the PDU session, and the performing chargingprocessing on the target network slice customer for the PDU session based on the second charging request message comprises:
 calculating an updated PDU session quantity of the target network slice customer based on the identifier of the target network slice customer and the start time of the PDU session. 
 
     
     
       19. The method according to  claim 14 , wherein the performing charging processing on the target network slice customer for the PDU session based on the second charging request message comprises:
 determining that the updated PDU session quantity of the target network slice customer reaches a subscribed PDU session quantity of the target network slice customer; and 
 sending indication information indicating to terminate the PDU session to the network slice charging gateway; 
 or further comprises: 
 determining that the updated PDU session quantity of the target network slice customer does not reach a subscribed PDU session quantity of the target network slice customer; and 
 sending indication information indicating to maintain the PDU session to the network slice charging gateway. 
 
     
     
       20. The method according to  claim 14 , wherein the session information comprises a user identifier, and the performing charging processing on the target network slice customer for the PDU session based on the second charging request message comprises:
 calculating an updated user quantity of the target network slice customer based on the user identifier; 
 determining that the updated user quantity of the target network slice customer reaches a subscribed user quantity of the target network slice customer; and 
 sending indication information indicating to terminate the PDU session to the network slice charging gateway; 
 or comprises: 
 calculating an updated user quantity of the target network slice customer based on the user identifier; 
 determining that the updated user quantity of the target network slice customer does not reach a subscribed user quantity of the target network slice customer; and 
 sending indication information indicating to maintain the PDU session to the network slice charging gateway.